Preventing needle injuries in healthcare workers
Citation: Reddy VK, Lavoie MC, Verbeek JH, et al. Devices for preventing percutaneous exposure injuries caused by needles in healthcare personnel. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2017;(11):CD009740.
Language: Abstract available in EN / ES / FA / FR. Plain language summary available in DE / EN / ES / FA / FR / MS. Full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: The authors reported that they had no external funding for this review.
What is this? Injuries from devices used for blood collection or injections may expose healthcare workers to infection.
In this Cochrane review, the authors searched for comparative effectiveness studies of medical devices for preventing percutaneous exposure injuries in healthcare workers. They did not restrict their searches by language of publication and did the search in November 2016. They included 8 randomised trials, 5 controlled-before and after studies and 11 interrupted-time series analyses.
What was found: Safe blood collection systems, safe intravenous devices and safe injection devices might reduce needle injuries (low and very low quality evidence).
Introduction of legislation on safety‐engineered devices showed a reduction in needle injuries (low to moderate quality evidence).
Studies of safety containers or the introduction of several safety devices at the same time showed inconsistent effects on needle injuries (very low quality evidence).
Implications: The authors of this review concluded that the low certainty of available evidence does not mean that these interventions are not effective. They stated that more high‐quality studies are needed, especially in countries where both injuries and infections associated with the use of devices for blood collection or injections are common.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of geographical location and occupation.
This summary was prepared by Alessio Bellato, checked by Yasmeen Saeed and Cristián Mansilla, and finalized by Mike Clarke.